200 Years of A2Votes
This project was created to highlight the history and progress related to voting and voter rights in Ann Arbor throughout the last 200 years. In preparing these posters, City Clerk's Office staff researched the history of voter registration, student voting, polling places, voting technology, and the ever-increasing ways Ann Arbor residents can access the ballot box. We hope you enjoy!
Images from the Ann Arbor News:
Voter Registration
Darwin L. Wood Registers To Vote With Carport "Curb Service", June 1952
Last Day of Voting Registration, July 1952
Voting Technology
Ann Arbor Voting Machine, April 1963
Mrs. Edward Moore Exits A Voting Machine In Ann Arbor's Fifth Ward Polling Place, November 1946
Sharon & Linda Seyfried Learn About Voting Machines During The Primary Election At The Burns Park Voting Place, August 1952
Polling Places
Busy Election Year Begins, April 1956
Mrs. John McClendon Arrives At Jones School To Vote In The City Election, April 1968
Voters Wait To Cast Their Election Ballots In Ann Arbor's Fifth Ward Polling Place, November 1946
Student Voting
University of Michigan Dames Model "Let's Vote For Fashion" Ensembles, November 1964
Boy Scouts Re-Enact Poster Urging Residents To Vote, October 1956
Members Of Ann Arbor High's Homecoming Court In The Get-Out-The-Vote Rally Parade, October 1956
Voting In the First Ward, Fourth Precinct, April 1973
'Should 18-Year-Olds Be Allowed To Vote?', July 1966
Ward Maps
Ann Arbor's Ward Boundaries To Be Redrawn, September 1964
Access to the Ballot Box
Ann Arbor Second Ward Voters Lined Up Before Polls Open For The 1952 Presidential Election, November 1952
Ann Arbor Voters Wait To Cast Their Ballots For The 1952 Presidential Election, November 1952
Phillis Engelbert & Son Submit Their Election Ballot At Northside School, November 1997
Media
Legacies Project Oral History: Benita Kaimowitz
Benita Kaimowitz was born in 1935 and grew up in Pascagoula, Mississippi, where her father ran a general store. When she was 11, her family moved to Nashville, Tennessee. After graduating from college at the University of Hawaii, she got her master’s at Sarah Lawrence College. Kaimowitz helped register voters in Louisiana as a volunteer for the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). She was a teacher and a longtime employee of Borders Bookstore in Ann Arbor. She and her first husband Gabe lived in a collective house for over two decades.
Benita Kaimowitz was interviewed by students from Skyline High School in Ann Arbor as part of the Legacies Project.
League Of Women Voters Promote Voter Registration At Ann Arbor Bank, July 1964 Photographer: Doug Fulton
Year:
1964
Ann Arbor News, July 29, 1964
Caption:
OPEN VOTER DRIVE: Taking advantage of huge crowds during Bargain Days this week, the League of Women Voters has set up special desks at three locations to promote voter registrations for the Sept. 1 primary election. Shown at the S. University branch of the Ann Arbor Bank, where registrations are being handled today until 3 p.m., are (from the left), Mrs. Nathaniel P. Breed, Mrs. Arthur J. Carr, City Clerk Fred Looker and Mrs. Altan Balta. Registration also will be handled from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow at the E. Liberty branch and from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday at the S. Main branch of the Ann Arbor Bank. The League has long been active in promoting civic participation.
Women's Group To Register Voters For City
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LWV Workers To Take Voter Registrations
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League Of Women Voters Volunteers Register Voters At The Huron Parkway Fire Station, September 1970 Photographer: Cecil Lockard
Year:
1970
Ann Arbor News, September 30, 1970
Caption:
Two volunteers from the League of Women Voters (LWV) - Mrs. David Cox, left, and Mrs. Robert W. Adams - sit behind a desk at the Huron Parkway fire station registering voters for the upcoming November election. A total 27 LWV members attended special training classes sponsored by the city and are authorized as deputy clerks to register any citizen qualified to vote. The League started the practice of manning auxiliary registration stations last spring to aid citizens who find it difficult or impossible to get to the city clerk's office during business hours. Registration will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. today and Thursday and from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at the city's fire stations, the Community Center and the Michigan League. Friday is the deadline for registering for the November election.
EMU Students Register To Vote, September 1971 Photographer: Cecil Lockard
Year:
1971
Ann Arbor News, September 26, 1971
Caption:
The League of Women Voters helped EMU students register to vote this past week in the McKenney Union ballroom. About 2,000 students took advantage of the drive - most of them registering to vote in the city of Ypsilanti.
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New Ypsilanti Voters
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League Fights 2 Proposals
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Last Day of Voting Registration, July 1952 Photographer: Attributed to Eck Stanger
Year:
1952
Ann Arbor News, July 7, 1952
Caption:
Five persons become registered voters and others wait their turns in the city clerk's office at City Hall this morning on the last day for registration. The office will be open until 8 o'clock tonight to handle last-minute registrants. After tonight, however, no more registrations can be taken before the Aug. 5 primary.
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